The Teaching Elder & Pastoral Ministry: An Act of Love for God, His Word, & His People
Pastoral care is an act of love. God’s minister provides pastoral care because he loves the Word of God, and he loves God’s people. His care brings the ministry of the Word to wherever his flock is found, whether gathered before his pulpit on the Lord’s Day or in his study during the week: homes, hospitals, cemeteries, and prisons become places of the Lord’s mercy and grace. This requires that the man of God be available to his people – ready to go to them, and willing to care for them. It is the God-breathed Word that comforts the mourner, encourages the struggler, directs the confused, and rebukes the careless. The caring pastor trains his congregation in righteousness.
Biblical pastoral care does not exist apart from the ministry of the Word, and the Word must be ministered wherever the Lord opens for the pastor a door of opportunity.
Theodore Beza (1519-1605) understood that the caring pastor is out and among his flock:
It is not only necessary that [a pastor] have a general knowledge of his flock, but he must also know and call each of his sheep by name, both in public and in their homes, both night and day. Pastors must run after lost sheep, bandaging up the one with a broken leg, strengthening the one that is sick… In sum, the pastor must consider his sheep more dear to him than his own life, following the example of the Good Shepherd.[1]
As we care for God’s people, five words come to mind: prayer, planning, accountability, mentoring, and tone.
Prayer
Pastoral care is a spiritual work. Just as the pastor would never enter the pulpit without praying for his own clear proclamation of the Word and his congregation’s reception of it, neither should he conduct his pastoral care apart from prayer. Prayer before entering a home or hospital, prayer with those visited, and prayer for continued blessings after his departure.
People regularly share matters with pastors that need his earnest prayer. I carry a pocket notebook. When someone shares a concern or prayer request, I write it down. My memory is not trustworthy. When I get back to my study, I enter a follow-up time to my calendar. For example, someone shares that he will be having a job interview next Friday: I enter that in my calendar and call him the day before to assure him of my prayers. I pray with him before the call ends.
